British retailers suffer worst Christmas since 2008: BRC

LONDON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Total retail sales gained zero growth in the last month of 2018, while like-for-like (LFL) sales showed a 0.7 percent drop, the worst December performance since 2008, said the British Retail Consortium (BRC) in a report released on Thursday.

"Squeezed consumers chose not to splash out this Christmas, with retail sales growth stalling for the first time in 28 months," said Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of BRC.

"The worst December sales performance in 10 years means a challenging start to 2019 for retailers, with business rates set to rise once again this year, and the threat of a no-deal Brexit looming ever larger," she added.

The British trade association's report was published on the same day as some of the nation's biggest retailers reported falling Christmas sales.

Marks & Spencer, the struggling high street chain, posted a 2.2 percent drop in total like-for-like sales over the 13 weeks to Dec. 29.

Steve Rowe, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, described the guessing when the retailer would see a recovery in sales as "a bit crystal ball."

Debenhams, the department store chain, also said sales fell by 5.7 percent in the 18 weeks to Jan. 5.

Paul Martin, UK head of retail with KPMG, said, "Retailers experienced little festive cheer this year, with total sales in December delivering zero growth on last year. This comes despite some retailers desperately attempting to generate sales through slashed pricing, which has seemingly not been enough to encourage shoppers." Enditem